1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of multistatic radars, specifically using three bistatic one dimensional measurements to calculate a three dimensional target location.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a bistatic radar there is a separation between the transmit portion (illuminator) and the receiver. The separation requires synchronization of the receive and transmit functions. That is, accurate phase information, transmit time, transmitter geo-location are conveyed from the transmitter to the receiver to facilitate deriving a phase coherent image at the receiver. This information is typically conveyed using a datalink between transmitter and receiver.
In general, in the prior art, three dimensional target location was performed with bistatic radars by positioning a plurality of receivers for performing range measurements. The range measurements relied on various combinations of bistatic range, range difference, Doppler and angles. The data was accumulated over a plurality of pulses. This plurality of pulses allowed target location estimates to be integrated over time.
The complexity of three dimensional target location using a combination of bistatic radars compounds when a plurality of targets are considered concurrently. For example, range ambiguities for the plurality of targets may render the measurements, even when integrated over multiple pulses, inaccurate. Thus, it is desired to perform accurate three dimensional target measurements on a plurality of target in as short a period of time as practicable.